INDIANA, Pa. – IUP softball stormed back in the sixth inning of game one for a 9-5 victory, highlighting a doubleheader split with Gannon on Sunday afternoon, before falling 4-3 in extra innings during the nightcap at Podbielski Field.
 
Lexi Dawson, Paige Truax and Allyssa Schmidt all finished with three hits on the afternoon and Bella Bucy combined for eight strikeouts between both games in the circle.
 
IUP (10-11, 1-3) used the big rally in game one, racking up six runs in the frame after falling behind 5-3. Lexi Dawson blistered a bases-clearing double for the 9-5 advantage in the sixth, while Bucy closed out the contest in the circle.
 
Trailing 3-0, IUP worked the game back even after a two-RBI single from Jordan Sylvia in the third. Sylvia eventually came around to score herself on a wild pitch. Neither side found the scoreboard over the fourth and fifth innings.
 
Gannon (3-13, 2-2) moved back in front off a two-run homer for Abbey Girman for a 5-3 edge in the sixth. The Crimson Hawks eventually responded with their big sixth inning before Bucy worked a scoreless side in the seventh of game one.
 
Gannon received a complete game pitching performance from Gabi Vasi in game two, hurling 10.0 innings with nine strikeouts. The Knights plated the game-tying run in the seventh, later pushing home the game-winner in the 10th inning.
 
IUP struck first in game two with run-scoring singles from Delaney Patella and Jess Cekeda for a 2-0 lead in the second inning. The Knights responded with a pair of runs of their own in the third before IUP answered for a 3-2 lead in the sixth, coming off a Meghan Grill single.
   
Up Next
IUP continues conference play on Tuesday, March 28 with a doubleheader at California (Pa.), set for a 1:00 p.m. start
 
Follow
Follow the softball program on Facebook (IUP Softball), Twitter (@IUPsoftball), and Instagram (@iupsoftball).

 

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